OceanDrive2
11-07-2005, 01:34
Intelligence sources have admitted that the London attacks came as a complete surprise, and there are still few useful leads to precisely who carried out the simultaneous bombings.
John Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, yesterday offered his view, insisting that the bombers were "home-grown" British Muslims.
Lord Stevens, who left office earlier this year and now writes a lucrative newspaper column, has more than once irritated his former colleagues with his public pronouncements.
Yesterday, serving police commanders insisted that they were not ruling out any possibilities, saying it was equally likely that the bombers were foreign nationals who had entered Britain shortly before the attacks.
Contradicting Lord Stevens' words, two alleged international terrorists are believed to figure in the current investigation - Moroccan-born Mohamed Gerbouzi, and Mustafa Setmarian Nasar, a Syrian linked to last year's attacks in Madrid.
Mr Gerbouzi, a 44-year-old joint British citizen, has been convicted in absentia of terrorism in Morocco, but is believed to be at large in London.
Yesterday, he gave an interview to al-Jazeera, the Arabic-language news channel, in which he protested his innocence. "I am not hiding and I am not a terrorist," said Mr Gerbouzi.
Al-Jazeera said the interview was conducted in London, but there is no way to verify that claim, and Mr Gerbouzi's whereabouts remain unknown.
The police and intelligence agencies investigating the London bombing are still working from an almost entirely blank page, searching surveillance records and agent reports from the weeks before the attacks for clues that may have been missed.
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=767872005
John Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, yesterday offered his view, insisting that the bombers were "home-grown" British Muslims.
Lord Stevens, who left office earlier this year and now writes a lucrative newspaper column, has more than once irritated his former colleagues with his public pronouncements.
Yesterday, serving police commanders insisted that they were not ruling out any possibilities, saying it was equally likely that the bombers were foreign nationals who had entered Britain shortly before the attacks.
Contradicting Lord Stevens' words, two alleged international terrorists are believed to figure in the current investigation - Moroccan-born Mohamed Gerbouzi, and Mustafa Setmarian Nasar, a Syrian linked to last year's attacks in Madrid.
Mr Gerbouzi, a 44-year-old joint British citizen, has been convicted in absentia of terrorism in Morocco, but is believed to be at large in London.
Yesterday, he gave an interview to al-Jazeera, the Arabic-language news channel, in which he protested his innocence. "I am not hiding and I am not a terrorist," said Mr Gerbouzi.
Al-Jazeera said the interview was conducted in London, but there is no way to verify that claim, and Mr Gerbouzi's whereabouts remain unknown.
The police and intelligence agencies investigating the London bombing are still working from an almost entirely blank page, searching surveillance records and agent reports from the weeks before the attacks for clues that may have been missed.
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=767872005